BE

ST

OF

MA

INE

/ MD

I’S S

TO

NE

BA

RN

FA

RM

/ MO

OS

E H

UN

TIN

G / R

UM

FO

RD

MIL

L / S

EG

UIN

LA

ND

T H E M A G A Z I N E O F M A I N E | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0

1 8 2 0 2 0 2 0

Maine

T H E M A G A Z I N E O F M A I N E | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0

1 8 2 0 2 0 2 0

MaineMaine

B E S To f M A I N E

292 (!) READER & EDITOR FAVESBOOKSTORES TO BREWERIES LODGES TO LOBSTER SHACKS

GEORGETOWN AND PHIPPSBURG

ARE GORGEOUSMDI’S STONE BARN FARM

MAINE’S MOOSE HUNT TURNS 40

68 downeast.com

HOME&GARDEN✴THEATERMaine State Music Theatre

Brunswick. msmt.org

FINALISTS

Quisisana ResortLovell

Portland StagePortland

The Public TheatreLewiston

Theater at MonmouthMonmouth

✴ARCHITECT

Knickerbocker GroupBoothbay Harbor

knickerbockergroup.com

FINALISTS

Caleb Johnson StudioPortland

CWS ArchitectsPortland

Kaplan Thompson ArchitectsPortland

Platz AssociatesAuburn

✴BUILDER

Knickerbocker GroupBoothbay Harbor

knickerbockergroup.com

FINALISTS

Goodwin BuildersRangeley

Marden Builders Inc.Boothbay Harbor

Ouellet ConstructionBrunwsick

Spang BuildersKennebunkport

✴FURNITURE STORE

Thos. MoserFreeport. thosmoser.com

FINALISTS

Chilton FurnitureScarborough, Freeport

Dow FurnitureWaldoboro

FX MarcotteLewiston

Youngs FurniturePortland

✴HOME

IMPROVEMENT STORE

Hammond LumberVarious locations

hammondlumber.com

FINALISTS

Ames True ValueWiscasset

Aubuchon HardwareBelfast

Maine HardwarePortland

Rangeley Lakes Builders Supply

Rangeley

OUR PICKSThe Colby College Museum of Art (colby.edu/museum) is Maine’s largest art museum, with a strong claim to being its best. With more than 10,000 works of art housed in a lavish 54,000-square-foot complex in Waterville, the museum is the envy of small colleges nationwide. It has benefi tted from the generosity of benefactors, including artist Alex Katz and his chief collector, Paul Schupf, and Peter and Paula Lunder (Peter is the former president of Dexter Shoe Company), who gave the museum their personal collection of more than 500 works by the likes of Georgia O’Keeff e, James McNeill Whistler, Pablo Picasso, and Alexander Calder. When it’s open, the museum is as likely to show a conceptual video installation about climate change as a Winslow Homer deep dive as a collection of weather vanes, all free of charge. The pandemic has it closed, but kudos to the museum for launching online exhibitions and virtual curator chats. — EDGAR ALLEN BEEM

In July 1870, at the invitation of the state, 53 Swedish homesteaders arrived in Aroostook County to begin carving out a new life. Their stories and culture — and those of their descendants — are preserved at the New Sweden Museum (facebook.com/newswedenhistoricalsociety). The three-story building, named the Capitolium by the immigrant Swedes, shows off photos and artifacts that include original, handcrafted cross-country skis (a conveyance the settlers introduced to Maine). Worth a visit on the 150th anniversary of Maine’s Swedish colony. — RONALD JOSEPH

OUR PICKSWe should all be so lucky to have a local hardware store like Rankin’s Hardware (rankinscamden.com), in Camden, where staffers are unfailingly helpful and deeply knowledgeable and consistently treat my most boneheaded queries with the same time, consideration, and respect they give the professional contractor in line behind me. I’ve had 30-minute conversations about the relative merits of various screws and the particularities of $6 cans of spray paint, and there’s always someone to help me navigate the warren of rooms out back, looking for the perfect piece of wood.  — J.E.

✴MUSEUM

Portland Museum of ArtPortland. portlandmuseum.org

FINALISTS

Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Brunswick

Farnsworth Art MuseumRockland

Maine Maritime MuseumBath

Washburn-Norlands Living History CenterLivermore Falls

✴ PRIVATE SCHOOL,

ELEMENTARYThornton Academy

Saco. thorntonacademy.org

FINALISTS

St. Brigid SchoolPortland

Maine Coast Waldorf SchoolFreeport

North Yarmouth AcademyYarmouth

Waynflete SchoolPortland

✴PRIVATE SCHOOL,

SECONDARYThornton Academy

Saco. thorntonacademy.org

FINALISTS

Cheverus High SchoolPortland

Lincoln AcademyNewcastle

North Yarmouth AcademyYarmouth

Waynflete SchoolPortland

In Camden, the Rankin’s staff can walk you through your next project.

058_069 BOM.indd 68 7/21/20 2:32 PM